View original post
Sadly, I don't speak spanish. Can anyone give some insight on the most....natural sounding translation of the novel in English? I don't care for sounding too much like Cervantes because honestly, I'm no literary genius. I won't appreciate it as much as most folk. But I do want to read the story and still appreciate the symbolism and all that fun stuff. If I get anything too dry, I already know I'll lose interest and put it aside.
Sadly, I don't speak spanish. Can anyone give some insight on the most....natural sounding translation of the novel in English? I don't care for sounding too much like Cervantes because honestly, I'm no literary genius. I won't appreciate it as much as most folk. But I do want to read the story and still appreciate the symbolism and all that fun stuff. If I get anything too dry, I already know I'll lose interest and put it aside.
Don Quixote is one of those works that depends heavily on the reader being aware of the romances being satirized. The amount of in-jokes is staggering upon reflection, so if you aren't very aware of the courtly romance genre of the 14th-16th centuries, then much of the "magic" is lost whether you read it in a great translation or not (I read it in an annotated Spanish edition that footnoted the specific references).
So while I can't say one way or the other if the recent (I want to say 2009-2011 range) translation is good or not, I can say that going in nearly "blind" to the sources of Cervantes's satire will rob the story of most of its delightful wit and biting commentary.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
I'm looking to read Don Quixote
- 27/06/2013 05:11:38 PM
604 Views
My literature teacher in high school mentioned she couldn't get through it. I've never cared to try *NM*
- 28/06/2013 05:18:42 PM
250 Views
I've read it and loved it, but..
- 29/06/2013 10:23:40 PM
518 Views